Daily News Briefs

More than four million individuals with at least a high school education were employed in science and engineering (S&E) occupations in the US as of April 2003, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation. A substantial proportion of this group -- 22 percent -- reported they had either a high-school diploma (5 percent) or an associate's degree (17 percent) as their highest level of education. Among the rest of the S&E workforce, 48 percent had a bachelor's degree, about 22 percent had a master's, 7 percent had a doctorate, and about 2 percent had a professional degree. For details, visit: www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/infbrief/nsf04333/

. . . Ongoing price reduction, lower minimum quantities and smaller form factors have resulted in the increased use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in consumer electronics products, according to a report by In-Stat/MDR. The high-tech-market research firm said the devices will continue to be used in more product families and at higher volumes; it predicts a 13.2 percent annual growth rate of MEMS revenues in consumer electronics from 2003 to 2008. For more information, visit: www.instat.com